Smoked (14 page)

What
the…?

Trinity watched, along with everyone else, as two young dragons the size of small horses swooped down from the sky, weaving in and out of each other's flight paths as if showing off for the cameras. One was pink with purple wings and the other as black as Trinity's eyes with golden sparks that seemed to dance over the ebony scales.

Dragons. How could there possibly be dragons?

And if that wasn't crazy enough… She did a double take.
Was
that
really
Caleb
and
Scarlet, riding on their freaking backs?

Guess they weren't about to miss the party after all.

Trinity's first thought was she must be dreaming. Because what other rational possibility could there be? Certainly not actual dragons coming in for a landing a few feet in front of her. She tried to pinch herself, to wake herself up somehow. But as Caleb and Scarlet slid off their dragons and approached the cameras, she realized this was no dream.

No. This was a real-life nightmare.

“What the hell is going on here, Caleb?” Connor demanded, stepping up to Trinity's side as his twin strode toward them with a distinct swagger in his steps. Connor sounded angry, but Trinity could also hear the fear winding through his voice. Not surprising, she supposed. This was everything he'd been warning her against—everything she'd refused to listen to.

“Come on, Bro,” Caleb cried with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. Trin could tell he was enjoying his brother's distress a little too much. “Haven't you ever seen a dragon before?”

Connor stared at him, apparently rendered speechless. As the moment stretched out, Trin caught Nate waving wildly at her, then gesturing to the camera. The still-rolling camera, she realized with a start. Crap. They were still live—in front of four million people, no less. If they showed any fear—if they made the world think this was anything more than a planned part of their regularly scheduled program, everything they'd been working toward all this time could end up being for nothing.

Damn
you, Caleb!
What
are
you
thinking?

“Of course he's seen dragons,” she rushed in, beaming at the cameras as she took what she hoped looked like a confident step forward. “We were just expecting you a little earlier. But hey—fashionably late dragons are fashionably late. It's not a big thing.” She swallowed hard, stepping up to the two dragons and daring to reach out, giving each a pat on the nose, praying they wouldn't see fit to bite her hand off for doing so. “It's great to see you,” she told them cheerfully, as if they were long-lost friends. “Make yourselves at home.”

“Uh, we've got a question from the audience,” Luke broke in, in a hesitant voice. When they all turned to him questioningly, he glanced down at his laptop. “Um, Marie Krakowski in Kansas City asks, ‘We thought Emmy was the world's last dragon. So where did these two come from?'”

It was the question of the century. Trinity held her breath, waiting for Caleb or Scarlet to answer. Her mind flashed back to Connor's warning five months before.

It
would
be
naive
to
assume
she'll always be the world's last dragon.

Had these two dragons been cloned in the government lab? Had Scarlet and Caleb broke them out somehow? Had they been keeping them a secret this entire time? Suddenly, their frequent disappearances started to make a lot more sickening sense. What a fool she'd been, assuming they just had some kind of bad romance going on.

“Oh, Marie,” Caleb replied, turning to look right into the camera, his eyes twinkling. “Are you really asking us where baby dragons come from?” He made an exaggerated wink. Then he turned to Emmy, doing a big
ta-da
gesture with his hands. “Zoe and Zavier here are Emmy's dear children, of course!”

Everyone gasped. Emmy let out a low, horrified whine. Trinity turned to look at her, wishing to God she still had the two-way psychic link they once shared so she could ask one of the million questions swirling through her brain without it being broadcast to the world.

In any case, Emmy wasn't looking at her. She was staring straight at Scarlet. And the betrayed look in her eyes told Trinity everything she wanted to know and then some.

You
promised
me, Scarlet
, she overheard the dragon cry.
You
said
you'd taken care of them!

Oh God. Trinity shrank backward, fear now rioting through her insides.
Emmy
knew.
She'd known all along.

Of
course
she
knew, you idiot
, she scolded herself.
It's not like you could just accidentally give birth and not know it.

Suddenly everything seemed to slide into a stomach-turning place. Emmy must have been pregnant when they'd freed her.
That's
where she'd gone the two months before they'd brought her back home. She had to go lay her eggs. And that's why she'd been so evasive when Trin tried to grill her about what she'd been up to during that time.

She frowned. But then what? Had Emmy asked Scarlet to raise these dragons? No. Trinity shook her head. It was clear Emmy was just as shocked to see them as everyone else.

Had
she
asked
Scarlet
to
kill
them?

God. If only the cameras weren't rolling. But, Trin supposed, that was probably no coincidence. Leave it to Caleb to concoct a plan that rendered everyone helpless when he introduced the new members of the dragon race to the world. Caleb would have known his brother would flip out—maybe even try to kill the dragons on sight without bothering for explanations. But he couldn't do anything while they were live on the Internet.

Trinity felt Emmy nudging her hard with her snout. She turned to look at the mother dragon. “You okay?” she whispered.

Emmy gave her a tormented look, her eyes wide and frightened and filled with guilt.
I'm sorry
, she whispered in Trinity's mind.
I'm so sorry. I should have told you. I should have—

Trinity shook her head. There would be time to talk this through later. Right now, she had to figure out how to salvage this broadcast before it went viral.

She turned, only to find that the pink dragon—Zoe, Caleb had called her—quietly approaching her mother, looking up at the larger dragon with wide, purple eyes. Despite herself, Trinity felt her heart squeeze a little as she recognized the apprehension mixed with hope written on the dragon's face. She was reminded, suddenly, of her own mother. They'd had a…complicated…relationship to say the least. But at the end of the day…

Maybe
this
will
be
okay
, she tried to tell herself.
Maybe
it'll be no big deal.

But just as she'd almost managed to convince herself of this, Emmy let out a low, threatening growl, taking a quick, aggressive step toward her daughter, as if trying to scare her away. Trin watched uneasily as Zoe whimpered and retreated a few steps, the hope fading from her eyes, replaced by a horrible sadness.

Trinity turned to her dragon. If looks could kill, Zoe would currently be nothing more than a messy puddle on the floor. She bit her lower lip. “Easy, Ems,” she tried in a slow, overly calm voice. “She's okay. She's just saying hi. She doesn't want to hurt you.”

The tension in the air was now so thick you could cut it with a knife. Trin glanced back at Nate, trying to push the idea of shutting down the webcast into his head. Sure, it was too late to just pretend this never happened, but maybe they could cut it off before things got more volatile. But Nate was just staring dumbstruck at the scene unfolding before him, and she couldn't seem to get his attention.

Desperate, she turned back to Caleb. “Maybe this isn't the best time?” she suggested, looking at him with pleading eyes.
Come
on, Caleb. Show some common sense for once in your life…
“After all, Emmy's just about to have her big feast. Maybe we could let her eat in peace and schedule this whole family reunion for later this afternoon?”
You
know, once we're not broadcasting live to the world?
she pushed.

At first Caleb looked as if he wanted to argue. Then his shoulders slumped, and he gave her an apologetic shrug.
All
right
, he agreed.
Let
me
just—

He broke off, his gaze darting behind her, his face draining of color. Trin turned slowly, not sure she really wanted to know what he was looking at. For a moment, she couldn't figure out what was going on. Then she saw it. While Zoe and Emmy had been facing off, Zavier had broken away and was now wandering dangerously close to Emmy's mountain of meat. His mouth was open in an excited pant, and his eyes were sparking with greed.

Trinity frowned. “Caleb! Get your dragon away from—”

Zavier dove into the meat, mouth open wide, bathing himself in blood as he practically vacuumed up the food. Gristle and bone flew from his mouth as he chomped happily before letting out a loud burp that seemed to echo across the airfield.

For a moment, Emmy just watched him, a horrified look on her face as her precious meal began to disappear at an alarming rate. Then another growl wound up her throat, and steam began to shoot from her nose.

“Stop it!” Trin cried to Zavier. “Get away from Emmy's food!” She whirled around, no longer caring about the cameras. “Caleb, call off your stupid dragon—now!”

To his credit, Caleb didn't argue. “Come, you overgrown garbage disposal,” he scolded. “That's your mother's dinner. You'll get yours later.”

But Zavier ignored him, continuing to suck up large pieces of meat and swallowing them without even bothering to chew. Caleb groaned.

“Hang on. I'll get him out of there.”

He ran to his dragon, attempting to grab him by his saddle and drag him away from the meat. But Zavier refused to budge. And when Caleb made a second, more concentrated effort, the beast flicked his wing, shooing him away like an irritating fly. The force of the blow sent Caleb flying, and he arced several feet into the air before hitting the ground with a sickening thud.

“Caleb!” Scarlet was at his side in an instant. “Oh God, Caleb! Are you okay?”

Trin found herself running to him as well. Dropping to her knees before him, taking in his white face. His leg was twisted, definitely broken. She glanced back at the group. “Turn off the cameras and freaking help us!” she cried.

But no one was paying attention; instead, their eyes were all locked on Emmy. The dragon had reared onto her haunches, letting out a deafening roar. Trin watched; it was as if the scene were playing out in slow motion, as the dragon's mouth creaked open and a cannonball of flames shot out, blasting Zavier full on. The raw meat sizzled and smoked under the sudden heat, but Zavier only looked up at her, his black eyes flashing something cold and hard.

The once-joyous celebration had now become a disaster film—people running, people screaming. The air was thick with smoke, making it difficult to see or breathe. Trin watched as Zavier rose to his feet, a scraggly roar rasping from his throat. A moment later, he was charging at Emmy, slashing at her with sharp claws.

Emmy leapt away, barely in time to dodge the attack, the whites in her eyes flashing and sparks dancing on her tongue. Summoning heat for round two?

“Emmy, no!” Trin cried. But even as she made the command, she wasn't a hundred percent sure she wanted the dragon to listen. After all, Emmy had to defend herself, right? What if this creature hurt her? What if his sister joined the fray and Emmy found herself outnumbered?

The two dragons met head-on, slashing with their claws, biting with their teeth, rolling around on the ground until it was tough to determine where one ended and the other began. Trin looked at Scarlet, who looked back at her with an equal amount of horror in her eyes. “We have to do something!” she cried.

But what? They couldn't jump into the middle of the fight. That would be suicide.

Then Trin heard it. A wailing song, both beautiful and terrible, bursting through the air. She whirled around to see Connor, standing behind her, singing at the top of his lungs. He was in full-on Hunter mode, trying to lull the beasts into submission with his song.

Emmy and Zavier both stopped in their tracks, a haze crossing over their eyes as they stared at Connor, their fight all but forgotten. Trinity watched, unable to even breathe as Zavier took a hesitant step toward the Hunter. His tongue was lolling from his mouth and his scales were wet with blood.

“No!”

Caleb shoved Trinity and Scarlet out of the way as he stumbled toward his brother. He shouldn't have been able to stand, never mind run, but the adrenaline was coursing through him, and he seemed to feel no pain. Trinity watched helplessly as he dove for his twin, knocking him to the ground and interrupting his song. His fist rose, slamming down on Connor's face—once, twice, three times. “Don't you even think about singing to my dragon, you flecking bastard!” he screamed.

Trin found her voice. “Caleb, stop it! He's just trying to calm him down!”

But Caleb didn't stop, and Trinity wasn't surprised. After all, the last time his brother had sung his Hunter's song, it had ended in Fred's murder; there was no way Caleb was going to risk this a second time with a second dragon.